Hardy's belated update!

Hardy is ready for a home of his own... No rush though as we love having him.....


Here is a little update on the lovely Hardy. He continues to be a joy to have around. He did his bit supporting England in the World Cup by wandering around with his England cape on He didn't know what to make of the cheering & barking & yapping when England scored their goal against USA, then in the Slovenia game he got up & looked like he thought he should be doing something, but wasn't sure what In the Germany game he ran around with the boys when we scored and when Lampard scored he actually ran around & yapped Sadly that was the disallowed goal , oh well, now he knows what to do on Aug 11

He does a funny little prancy dance when he knows he is going out for a walk, but sits calmly while we put his lead on him Hardy had been a bit worried at times by quietish cars coming from behind him, but seems to be over that now When we are out walking he has learned to stop when we say "curb" and lays down, he occasionally wants to cross over quickly, but is learning to cross calmly. When there is a curb he needs to step up we have been saying "careful" just before we get to it & he now knows to step up the curb & doesn't bump his nose.

He is as good as gold when it comes to food. He has never put his nose into our boys food bowls or bothered them while they (or us for that matter) are eating. He very quickly picked up on the after dinner treat routine. They all have a chew stick when we have finished our dinner & as soon as he hears my fork go down on my plate (I am the slow eater of the family) he is off to the kitchen to sit & wait for his treat

Hardy, like Indy, likes to drink rainwater from a watering can in the garden. The other day Hardy picked up the watering can & put it on the step by the open back door, he did this twice. Mick went to see what he was doing and I guess it was his way of telling us that it needed refilling, he's a smart cookie!

Hardy is very good when being brushed, when he is tired of sitting, he just lays down & lets us continue (take note Indy) He doesn't mind having his feet dried when he comes in from the rain either (not that there has been much call for that lately!)

We bought him a ball the other day that is a ball surrounded by a rubber frame, the inside ball makes a sound like a baby's rattle, Hardy seemed unnerved by it, so he now has a ball with a bell in it that he is happy to carry around.

Hardy hid under Julia's dress when the rattle ball came out!

When our son comes to visit, Hardy welcomes him with big wiggles & tail wags (his tail is starting to fill out a bit more now) , and when he leaves all 3 dogs go outside to wave him off, with a little help from us. On Wednesday, when our son was getting into his car, I said to ,Hardy " are you ready to wave Michael off?" and all on his own Hardy lifted his paw & waved! I couldn't believe it, so I said it again & he did it again!
It was so cute & unexpected, I could have cried. Michael would have been happy to sit in his car all night watching Hardy waving at him on his own

Hardy is such a funny, sweet, easygoing, loving boy. We will really miss him when he does get his own forever family

Hardy has discovered that he loves marrow bones.

THE "SIX" !!

Well so far so good. I'd forgotten just how much poo a pup does and of course multiplied by six and you have a giant poo party !!!!

The pups all seem very happy boys and their personalities are beginning to show. We can see that the bigest, fluffiest pup is a wimp and the others just walk all over him.!! Feeding time is entertaining as is playtime and cuddletime.

My previous foster dog Bobbie who I adopted is brilliant with them, she loves them and fusses over them. The funniest thing is when she dances about around the garden ans all the pups follow her.....just like the pied piper !!! Anyway thats all for now as I can hear that they have woken up so its time for toileting, feeding and playing.

Love Eleanor x

" SIX PUPS !!"

Well I still don't know how this happened, it must have been a severe case of "sunstroke " !! One minute I'm minding my own business and the next driving home from Wiccs with SIX extra passengers. These pups arrived today from Birmingham along with 3 other pups and 5 adult dogs and they soon wormed their way into my heart. I think they are about 6 weeks old and are all boys. On my way home I called in at my parents and said " you'd better come and look in the car " My mum said " not another dog ?". "No " I replied...." 6 more". Her face was a picture. Mind you they were soon over for puppy cuddles.

So far they have explored the garden, eaten well and then crashed out. Bazra is grumpy but I expected this reaction, Pluto couldn't care less but Bobbie is having a great time as she thinks they are all clockwork toys to play with!!!

Watch this space.................

Love Eleanor x

Hardy goes to town.

Hardy has conquered cars and shopping trolleys....... What's next?



I recently put on the fosterers blog that Hardy had been showing interest in cars,We have been paying attention to that in the last few days. Today Hardy went to the dentist with me, we spent 1/2 hour walking around the town centre and Hardy didn't show interest in any cars.

I stopped for 10 minutes on a roadside bench and Hardy just flopped down at my side and listened to the world go by. Will this pooch ever stop surprising me with his wonderfulness? whatever he comes up against he just deals with and then moves on to the next challenge.
I am going to be very of whoever adopts Hardy.

I know someone else who will miss Hardy when he goes.

Hardy's progress

Hardy is making great progress and is probably ready to have his own family to love.

Hardy has settled in with us as though he has always lived here. He lays up against Luca and Indy for a nap, he follows them around the fields when we go for walks and generally acts as though they are his brothers.
Hardy has no real issues that would cause problems in a forever home, the noise from some cars makes him stop and listen and sometimes he will head towards the noise but with most cars he is ok, it is mostly cars that make little engine noise so perhaps is is the noise of the tyres that he hears?
Hardy loves people but with some he will stay next to our legs and pop his head out for the person to stroke when HE is ready, the first few times that our son visited, Hardy wouldn't go to him but would let our son come to him? last night Hardy ran to greet him at the door.
Walking is a pleasure, as long as we are aware of cars coming we can distract Hardy and he trots along without a care in the world. When we arrive at the fields or park we put Hardy on a 35ft longline so that he can have a run and a sniff around, this works well except when I am less that 35ft from the brook as happened this week! Hardy enjoyed his unexpected swimming session. As a result of my carelessness, Hardy is getting used to having baths! he just stands still and lets us get on with it.
Hardy doesn't like cats! He will act as though he is just snuffling along but as soon as he thinks he is close to the cat he will grab at it, apparently cats don't like that kind of behaviour?
Hardy has just enjoyed another long day at Wiccaweys where he walked with several different dogs and got on great with them all, several visitors and volunteers went up to him to give fuss and he didn't show any shyness.
All in all Hardy is fantastic.

Mick

BOBBIE IS ADOPTED !!

BOBBIE HAS LEFT THE BUILDING !!

THE DEED WAS DONE, SIGNATURE ALONG THE DOTTED LINE AND AWAY SHE WENT WITH HER TWO DOGGY OR SHOULD THAT BE DODGY BROTHERS!!

TRY AND BE A GOOD GIRL BOBBIE, BUT MAKE SURE YOU KEEP THOSE TWO BOYS AND YOUR HUMANS ON THEIR TOES!!!

METHINKS A CHALLENGING TIME AHEAD !!

WELL DONE BOBBIE GOBS, WE ALL LOVE YOU AND LOOK FORWARD TO HEARING ABOUT YOUR ADVENTURES.

Love Eleanor

BOBBIE IS QUIET !!

Bobs and Bazra love swimming and it was whilst they were swimming yesterday that I had a PROUD FOSTERMUM moment. A chap came along with two horses, now Bobs tends to be a bit vocal when she sees horses and yesterday was no exception. Anyway the chap just told me to carry on playing with the dogs as his horses were used to dogs. So I continued playing with Bobs and Baz whilst he came into the water with his horses where they had a drink and a paddle. Eventually Bobbie forgot that the horses were there and took no notice and the chap came right alongside us and we had a conversation without Bobbie giving her opinion !! Well done Bobbie.

Distraction works well with Bobs but she is only ever distracted by her boyfriend Bazra. But I felt very proud of her. She can be a little minx at times and tries to see just what she can get away with..........and where Baz is concerned she gets away with all sorts of things and can do no wrong !!!

Love Eleanor